Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production

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  Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production Abstract Variability in the antibody response of horses used for snake antivenom manufacture is well recognized, yet its statistical structure and implications for industrial productivity remain poorly characterized. In this study, we quantified antivenom antibody titers by ELISA in a cohort of 14 horses immunized with venoms from the clinically most important snakes in sub-Saharan Africa. To integrate antibody levels with plasma availability, we calculated the Cumulative Plasma Productivity (CPP) by converting individual plasma volumes into titer-corrected equivalents and sequentially pooling these volumes according to their corrected contribution. Distributional analysis revealed right-skewed, heavy-tailed patterns better approximated by a log-normal model than by a strict Pareto (power-law) form, with approximately 20–3...

Description of a new genus and species associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 from Early Cretaceous Burmite (Chelicerata: Scorpiones)

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Description of a new genus and species associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 from Early Cretaceous Burmite (Chelicerata: Scorpiones)

Abstract

One more new genus and species of fossil scorpion associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 are described from Early Cretaceous Burmite. Spinochaerilobuthus Lourenço gen. n., with the new species Spinochaerilobuthus andreschmidti Lourenço sp. n., represents the third genus to be clearly associated to this familial group which is so far one of the most speciose among those known from Burmite. The new genus shows several clear morphological characters which can distinguish it from the two other known genera previously confirmed as associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae, attesting the existence of a marked generic variability within this family. Further comments on the variability of different morphological characters are also presented.

Lourenço W. R. & Velten J., 2026. – Descriptions d’un nouveau genre et d’une nouvelle espèce associés à la famille des Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 de l’ambre du Crétacé inférieur du Myanmar (Chelicerata : Scorpiones). Faunitaxys, 14(29): 1 – 8. https://archive.org/details/faunitaxys-f-430